ROCKFORD — Guilford football coach Mel Gilfillian challenged his team after suffering a 42-14 loss against Hononegah last week.

The Vikings responded in a big way Friday’, knocking off Harlem for the first time in the regular season in five years, 20-7.

With the victory, Guilford improved to 7-2, good for a share of second in the NIC-10.

“We didn’t play very well last week,” Gilfillan said. “I challenged the kids during the week and called some kids out and asked our seniors to not to be satisfied with six wins and they responded.”

The Huskies (6-3) had the advantage early scoring on their opening drive on QB Tanner DiGiovanni’s 7-yard run.

It would be the only scoring for the Huskies, who were stymied by the Vikings’ defense.

“They scored on the opening drive and after that we made a few adjustments,” Gilfillan said. “They (Harlem) gutted us on the run, but we made some adjustments and started to run a different front. I’m so proud of the coaches and the kids. We were in a rough spot last year, but we moved up a lot of sophomores and played a lot of juniors. We were hoping the hard work would pay off and we’re glad to see it has.”

Guilford QB Nino Musso threw a 6-yard pass to Sedrick Jones, Jr. that tied the game at 7-7 with 44.9 seconds left the first quarter. Right before the half, the Vikings added two more TDs with Delano Clanton scoring on a 2-yard run and Musso connected on a 26-yard pass to Jalante Wallace that made it 20-7.

Musso, who played with a broken left pinky, went 13-for-27 for 174 yards passing. He needed 155 yards to pass Justin Martini (1992), Len Williams (1987) and Ken Kravenas to become Guilford’s second all-time leading single-season passer behind Jeff Anderson’s 2186 in 1982.